Good morning from SMurF, where I'm waiting for a flight to dONuT for a college event in Chino. In other words, I'm spending my day in AD52, which is having a special election on July 23 to fill the vacancy left by Norma Torres's move to the Senate. Thus far, we have ten candidates, so I'll go out on a limb to predict a September 24 runoff. That will deprive Democrats in the Assembly of the 54 vote supermajority, as Bob Blumenfield's seat will be vacant after he's sworn in to LA City Council on July 1.

Seven Democrats are running along with three Republicans. The best-known Democrats are Freddie Rodriguez, a Pomona councilmember; and Manuel Saucedo, the former district director for Norma Torres; and, Dani Soto, a former Pomona councilmember and granddaughter of the late state senator Nell Soto. Lesser known Democratic candidates include Rodolfo Favila, Tom Haughey, Pomona USD trustee Jason Rothman, and Doris Louise Wallace.

On the GOP side, Ontario mayor Paul Leon is running following his loss in the runoff against Norma Torres for state senate. The other two Repulicans--Kenny Coble and Dorothy Pineda--are lesser known.

July 23 won't set any records for voter turnout and, while this is a safe Democrat seat, Paul Leon will likely make the runoff (as anyone receiving 50% is very unlikely). As to which Democrat makes it into the likely September runoff is anyone's guess. Soto is supported by Congresswoman Gloria Negrete McLeod, while Freddie Rodriguez is supported by Norma Torres. They are clearly the favorites, but the split of votes could go in many ways and it's anyone's guess. Watching organizational endorsements in the next few weeks will be essential.

"As the agents combed the offices of state Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) and the Latino Legislative Caucus into the evening, a federal law enforcement source said Calderon, a member of the caucus, was "the focus of the investigation." Authorities would not say what they were seeking or disclose the nature of the investigation."

"FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said only that a court order prevented any further public disclosure about the matter and the agency was 'taking evidence respective to an ongoing investigation.'"

Capitol janitors were instructed to stay out of the targeted offices as the search continued into the night. Shortly before 8 p.m., [Senate Sgt At Arms Tony] Beard escorted two women — one holding a stack of folders — to Calderon's office door, telling people inside: "Your agents are here." Beard said he did not know how late the investigators would stay.

Roughly 90 minutes later, about 10 people emerged from the office carrying three cardboard boxes, several plastic boxes, a beat-up black briefcase and a plastic folding table.

The agents spent about four hours in the office. A lot of lobbyists did not sleep last night . . . Reportedly, the FBI has 12 more members they want to talk to. The LOB office searched yesterday was a satellite of Ron Calderon's Capitol office--not the Latino Legislative Caucus as initially reported.

COALINGA: My link yesterday to the article about civil detainees organizing to vote at Coalinga State Hospital created the most anger of anything I have written since I started The Nooner, with threats of lawsuits and political retribution against me. Fortunately, I was a research assistant in constitutional law in law school and spent a fair amount of time with defamation law. None of the five required elements were present in yesterday's Nooner, but I also want it to be known that I turn down about 75% of the links and "news" sent my way. These are people's political lives, and we must be careful.

The article link came from the author, a Nooner subscriber since last December, and a registered voter at the hospital. I linked to it because it is a politically interesting thing and these Californians have the same legal right to organize and vote as you and me. While some first argued it was a fake article, it is not.

We have lots of "inmates" who may complete their criminal sentence and regain voting rights, but who are held following their sentence for public safety. At Coalinga State Hospital, there are 351 such voters, and 186 voted in the SD16 primary, an increase from 118 who voted last November.

It didn't make a difference in the SD16 election.

Even if every single of these voters cast their ballot for a candidate other than Andy Vidak, he still would have fallen 21 votes short of 50%. And, there is no indication that any campaign organized these voters, but I applaud them for making their voice heard.

COMPTON:Aja Brown (63.7%) defeated former mayor Omar Bradley, and the city elected its first Latino councilmember, Isaac Galvan. [Angel Jennings and Abby Sewell @ LAT]

FRESNO: The hotly contested campaign about contracting out trash services in Fresno is a dead heat. As of last night, the "yes" side, supported by mayor Ashley Swearengin, had 50.26%, 262 votes more than the "no" side. As late absentees and provisionals lean Democrat/liberal, I would expect the "no" side to crawl up and this won't be decided until the last vote is counted.

SANTA CLARA:Cindy Chavez and Teresa Alvaradowill face a runoff for county supervisor to fill the seat of disgraced supe George Shirakawa, Jr.

A company official who bid on work at the Central Basin Municipal Water District in Los Angeles County said Tuesday that he has been interviewed twice by FBI agents since March about the agency's contracting practices. Central Basin has paid up to $140,000 a year on a consultant contract with Tom Calderon, the senator’s brother and a former state lawmaker himself.

As city crews trimmed a tree that had gone more than 25 years without being cut, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday signed into law the $7.7 billion budget for 2013-14 that begins to restore some basic services without any vetoes.

SACRAMENTO &mdash; FBI agents searched offices in the Capitol on Tuesday &mdash; the first such raid in 25 years &mdash; serving warrants and carting away evidence in what law enforcement officials said was a corruption probe that began in Los Angeles County.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly ruled Tuesday that authorities properly weighed the environmental impact of a landmark 2003 accord on how to divide the state's share of Colorado River water. The centerpiece calls for California's Imperial Valley to transfer water to San Diego.

Lockyer was a powerful and colorful presence in Sacramento for four decades. While his straight talking ways took shots at issues and allies on my side of the fence, he was not shy telling his comrades when they went off track.

According to the study by Keyser Marston Associates, the property tax revenue to local governments from Apple Campus 2 also would more than double from $25 million to more than $57 million and would help fund police and fire departments, roads, parks, schools and libraries.

Paul Fearer, right, a board member California Health Benefit Exchange, flips through the health plans and rates packet as California's health exchange held a news conference to announce how much it will cost to buy premiums under the new federal health care program in the state. Differences in cost can be seen from region to region in the state.

Just 24 hours after some California Democrats complained that President Obamaâs fundraising here is giving short shrift to key issues key issueslike the Affordable Care Act, the White House says the president will now discuss about the benefits of the Obamacare during his trip on Thursday.

A petition to create a separate city of Los Angeles public health department has received enough signatures to be officially presented to the City Council and qualify for the ballot next year, the City Clerk's office announced Tuesday.

Measure A hikes Hercules Utility User Tax, currently 6 percent on gas, electric, water and telephone bills, to 8 percent, and extends it to previously untaxed cable TV and other video technology; it needed a simple majority to pass

California could nearly double its spending on public preschool with an influx of federal funding if the presidentâs proposal to significantly increase the money available for early childhood programs passes Congress, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday.